Machine for polishing sheet material



' s. E. WElLL MACHINE FOR POLISHING SHEET MATERIAL June 1 1926.

5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 6,. 1924 June 1 1926.

s. E. WEILL MACHINE FOR POLISHING SHEET MATERIAL ts-She'et 2 Filed March 6, 1924 June 1 1926. 1,586,542

5. a, WEILL MACHINE FOR POLISHING SHEET MATERIAL PM March 6. 1924 s sheets-sheet :5

Patented June 1, 1926.

saucer; IYEMIL warm, or Lennon, shaman,

MACI'IKNE ronromsnms sxrsnrmrmmt.

hppli'catwn fll'ed March 6, -1924,-Ser1a1' No. 6 7,204; and in Great Britain November 14, r923.

This invention comprises an improvement 111 or a modificatlon of the polishing niachine described in the specification of my 5 ing a counterbalanced polishing mop, and

has for its'object to simplifythe construc-: tion and'thcreby lessen the cost of manu facture of the said machine.

In the accompanying drawings- 7 Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine .for polishing sheet material, constructed in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a sectionalplan thereof;

Figure 3 is a view of-the machine looking from the front end. I

Figs. 4 to? inclusive are detail views of the inountingfo'r the gripping bars.

In the said specification two pairs of contactin'g rollers are described for feeding the sheet material beneath the" polishing mop, one infront and one'atthe rear of the said mop, and the main objectof the present invention is to dispense with the-said rollers.

According to my presentinvention I sub-' stitute for thesaid.feed rollers' a teed device or devices acting to receive and gri or polished and hold the sheet or sheets to be to travel along the table of the machine beneath the polishing mop and then to release the olished sheet or sheets, the feed device or devices then being returned to the receiv ing or gripping position. r

In a suitable arrangement for carrying out the invention I form each gripping device of a pair of bars extending transversely of the machine table, between which bars the plate to be polished is gripped along one edge, the lower bar being rebated to receive the edge or the said plate and the upper bar fitting into the said rebate and bar of each 1min when receiving or releasing a piece of sheet material, a pair of bell crank levers is arranged designed to bear at one end beneath the respective ends ofthe I also provide means for adjusting the mop to any desired position relatively to the i work according to the pressure to be exert ed thereon by the said mop,'instea"d of depending on the adjustment of the counterbalance weights' For this purpose, 1' provide a sliding or adjustable stop which limits the movement of the'nrop towards the machine table, this stop being arranged in the path of the controlling hand-lever which is advantageously connected to the lever on the shaft carrying the counter balance by an adjustable link comprising a nut pivoted to the said lever and a screwed rod controlled by a hand-wheel engaging the said nut and carried in a bearing pivoted to the said hand-lever. I r

a is the table of the machine supported by side frames 6, b and front legs "0, 0. (Z is the polishing mop arranged abovethe table a and (a is the roller arranged in the table below the said mop and serving to supportthe sheet material under the action of the mop, the upper portion of the periphery of the said roller being locatedin the slot 1 in is the lever frame fulcollar 2011 the shaft/ whilst the other arm thereof is connected by the rod m, with the I crank 41, rotated by gear-wheels n h the latter of which is carried by the sleeve or hollow main shaft 0 mounted on an exten-' sion ofthe shaft h and rotated by the pulley i r i p is the counterbalance for the mop (Z, whereby; the latter is maintained in a semifloating condition, which counterbalance is in the form of a weight adjustably carried on the lever 79 fulcrumed in the frame sides 7), b by the cross shaft 22 the latter having the two levers p thereon connected by the links 9, q to the frame By varying the position of the counterbalance p on the lever 29 the pressure of the mop upon the material to be polished can be varied. 1" is the hand-lever for raising the mop clear of the table, when moved in the direction of the arrow 1, Figure 1, the said lever being fulcrumed at r to one of the frame sides 6 and connected by a link 7 to a lever r on the shaft 19 s is the belt pulley for rotating, by means of the belt 8 the shaft j carrying the mop (Z and t is the shaft carrying the said pulley, and which shaft is arranged in the bearing 25 in the lever-frame g in axial alignment with the said shaft j. u is the clutch connecting the pulley s to the shaft 7' so that the latter can be reciprocated longitudinally in its bearings without corresponding move ment of the said pulley, u u being pins on the pulley s which slide in holes in the clutch in when the shaft 7' is reciprocated and maintain the driving connection between the said pulley and shaft.

1), o are the guide pulleys around which the belt 8 passes to maintain the said belt taut, notwithstanding movements of the lever-frame 9 around its fulcrum, these two pulleys being arranged on the shafts '0 in bearings on the frame 9 on opposite sides of the shaft 7L and equidistant therefrom on a line passing through the said fulcrum and at right angles to the axial line of the said frame g, the said belt 3 passing around a driving pulley above the machine and not shown, around the pulley '0, around the pulleys s and '0 and around the guide pulley '0 on the pivot 11 on one of the frame sides 7) back to the said driving pulley.

w, M1 are the pair of bars forming each of the gripping devices for the sheets or plates A to be polished, and extending transversely of the table a, the one or front edge of such a sheet or plate being placed between and gripped by the said bars and moved backwards from the front of the table beneath the mop (Z. The lower bar 10 is rebated, as shown in Figure 6, to receive the edges of the sheet or plate A, the upper bar to fitting-unto the rebate onto the top of the sheet (ir plateiA rand being-pressed therein: ;at; each. end iby-rthe spning' iwft carried by! a fitting, r09 oni ieafcliaend of; the. i bar 2 wt, ww are- :the pair of endlessvohains-ron whielnt-he pairiszofa bars i 1a,; ido -i Kare mounted and. which? are ,di rectly' attachedi'to. the fittingsl'wl. a 510?, w? are:

v theigaings iofislprocketuteeth in meshawith the. chains 10 and carried on the rollers w and;

wt mounted sinihearingsaat at; the front; and askie dsibfii himachrneg respectively? a sprocket wheel on one end of the roller '10" driven by a sprocket chain 231 from a sprocket wheel :0 pivoted on a fixed stud or shaft x and attached to a spur wheel w in mesh with the wheel a m, m are the bellcrank levers having their inner ends bearing beneath the respective ends of the upper gripping bar w and pivoted to the fittings '10 and which are moved to raise the said bar against the pressure of the springs Q03 when receiving or releasing the piece of sheet material A. :22, m are the guide or cam rails on the table a beneath which rails the outer ends of the bell-crank levers :0 pass in their passage along the said table and are depressed thereby so as to lift the gripping bar w. a pair of the said rails being arranged at the front and at the back of the machine, those at the front allowing of the insertion of a sheet to be polished between the gripping bars w, 10 and the pair at the back of the machine effecting the release of the sheet when polished, the said sheet being either removed by hand or by gravity.

1 1 are the extensions on the mop carrying frame 7 with which rollers y, on the fittings 10 of the gripping devices w, w are designed to come into contact to lift the said frame and consequently the mop (Z to pre vent the latter being fouled by the said gripping device when passing under the mop.

a is the adjustable stop for determining the position of the mop (Z relatively to the work according to the pressure to be exerted thereupon by the said mop, the said step being in the form of a bar having a slot 2 through which pass a pair of set-screws a 2 screwing into one of the frame sides Z) and serving to secure the said bar after adjustment longitudinally. The link r connecting the hand-lever r to the lever r is in the form of a screwed rod engaging at one end the nutr pivoted to the said lever and at the other end rotating in the bearing r pivoted to the said hand-lever, endwise movement of the rod 7' in the bearing being prevented by the collars r, 7". After roughly setting the stop .2 a fine adjustment of the working position of the mop can be effected by rotating the rod R Or, the stop a need not be adjustable, the required adjustment of the mop relatively to the work being effected wholly by the rod 7.

Claims 1. In a machine for polishing sheet material, the combination with a supporting table=;foii supporting the sheets while they are beingipolished, endless; chains r-movabla alongfthe niachineztable, pairsof :bars leach-i having a length :greater Ethan.- the transverse widtlr of the sheets. to be :polished harried-by said chains, saidvbars ibeingr adaptedatoi grip? the. sheets i .hetweeni 1 them throughout Ether. length treatments, hahorizontally,movable;

-.- l i lSl polishinghmop. located above ltheetablea form 139 engaging the sheets supported thereby, and means for causing the bars carried by said chains to automatically grip and release the said sheets.

2. A machine for polishing sheet. material comprising a table for supporting the said material, a rotary polishing mop arranged 1 above the table and movable towards and away from the latter, a lever frame carrying the mop and provided with a variable counterbalance, a supporting roller arranged be neath the mop in a slot in the table, endless chains movable along the table, bars carried by the chains for gripping the sheet material between them and moving it beneath the mop and means for causing the said bars automatically to grip and release the said material during the movement of the chains.

3. In a machine for polishing sheet material, the combination with a supporting table for supporting the sheets while they are being polished, endless chains movable along the machine table, pairs of bars each having a length greater than the transverse width of the sheets to be polished carried by said chains, said bars being adapted to grip the sheets betweenthem throughout the length ofsaidbars, a horizontally movable polishing mop located above the table for engaging the sheets supported thereby, springs for holding said bars in gripping engagement, levers for separating said bars against the pressure of said springs, and fixed guide rails adjacent to the edges of the table for engaging said levers to efiectthe opening and closing of said bars during their travel along the machine table.

4. In a polishing machine as claimed in claim 2, wherein means are provided for automatically lifting the mop clear of each gripping device, as it passes thereunder.

5. In a polishing machine as claimed in claim 2, means for lifting the mop clear of the gripping device, or each such device, comprisingan extension on the pivoted lever frame carrying the mop and an extension or fitting on thesaid gripping device co-acting with the extension on the lever frame.

6. In a polishing machine as claimed in claim 2, means for adjusting the mop relatively to the work comprising a stop on the machine arrangedin the path of a hand-lever for raising the mop and anadjustableconnection between the said hand-lever and the mop carrying mechanism.

7. In a machine for polishing sheet material, the combination with a table, a rotary polishing ,mop mounted thereon," endless chains movable along the table, transversely disposed pairs of gripping bars carried by said chains, springs holding said bars in gripping relation, bell-cranks carried by said chains at each end of each pair of gripping bars and having one end interposed between said bars, and stationary cam' rails supported adjacent to the travel of saidchains for engaging the other end of adjacent bell-cranks to effect the separation of said gripping bars.

SAMUEL EMIL WEILL. 

